My Kenmore Water Softener Salt Is Not Dissolving

Salt Type

• One reason that the salt in your Kenmore water softener may not dissolve is that you may be using the wrong kind of salt. Kenmore water softeners can hold up to 200 pounds of water softener salt that comes in bags that you can buy at nearly any major home improvement chain. This salt needs to be in pellet form. Don't make the mistake of purchasing large blocks of salt as these may take too long to dissolve and may never do so to the extent you need to regenerate the water softener.

Salt Bridge

• In some circumstances, the salt will begin to conglomerate to form what the Kenmore water softener owner's manual refers to as a "salt bridge." A salt bridge occurs in the brine tank when the salt literally crystallizes to form a bridge over the water that it would normally mix with to form the brine solution needed for regeneration. This can also be caused by using the wrong kind of salt or by high humidity.

Amount

• Your Kenmore water softener may also have a difficult time dissolving the salt if you put the wrong amount of salt in the brine tank. The Kenmore owner's manual recommends filling the tank about one-third full for optimum system regeneration. Too much salt would reduce the amount of water that the brine solution tank could hold, thus making it difficult for the system to properly dissolve the salt.

Troubleshooting

• If you find that you have problems with hard water, it is possible that your system is not creating the brine solution needed to regenerate the resin that is used to soften the water. Checking for a salt bridge is your first course of action. This can be done by simply taking a broom handle and slowly poking it down through the brine solution to determine if there is a blockage. If so, you can break up the bridge by gently poking the bridge in several places until it collapses and dissolves. You should not, however, beat the side of the tank to break up the bridge. This could damage the tank and invalidate your warranty.